


'Brave Warrior of the Sea'

by Aibhilin



Category: One Piece
Genre: Food, Gen, Gift Fic, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28433097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aibhilin/pseuds/Aibhilin
Summary: “Bravery, eh?” Sanji asks, going on to say, “That’s something you would know best how to answer, wouldn’t you? ‘Brave Warrior of the Sea’.”
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Usopp, Usopp & Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 12
Kudos: 57
Collections: OP Secret Santa 2020





	'Brave Warrior of the Sea'

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pingo1387](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pingo1387/gifts).



> This is my fill for the OP Secret Santa Gift Exchange on tumblr! The prompt was: "Usopp, Zoro, and/or Sanji talking about bravery".
> 
> Hope you like it!

“I’m scared" he says and it’s drowned out by the evil pirate of the day's shouts and screams in the face of his captain’s nonchalant nose-picking.

Luffy’s bored, obviously, of the whole exchange, but Usopp kinda doubts that he has seen the man’s minions and anyways, the power trio’s indifference to their opponents‘ increasing strength only serves to make Usopp yet more anxious the longer this keeps going on.

They win the fights, sure. But at what cost?

More and more challengers appear in front of them every week.

It seems like there’s no end to this.

Later, once the fight is done and over with, Usopp’s sitting on the deck of their ship, eyes down and mentally ruminating on where he’s going wrong.

They’ve survived for this long, true.

Survived and, for some of them, that means that they thrived, as well, and continue doing so, still.

Usopp’s not so sure he belongs to that group, is not so certain if he measures up to the expectations thrown his way.

He’s still scared. Is anxious, more often than he is not.

His hands are shaking – even then, they are, when there’s no one to threaten their continued survival and the sea is peaceful, for once.

There’s no threat there, no threat right in their face. And still. And _still_.

Forming fists in his lap, his gaze rests on them as he thinks that he’s not at all brave enough to call himself a brave warrior of the sea, the dream that he’d set out to fulfil. For himself. For Kaya.

It’s-

He's-

Sanji’s cooking.

Luffy’s taking a nap.

Chopper’s in his room, concocting medicine from herbs.

Robin and Nami are looking at magazines in the girls’ room.

A head falls to come to a rest against his back unexpectedly, making him briefly flail in shocked surprise – he is under attack, he’s being assaulted by-

Glancing over his shoulder makes him stop and abort his panic.

“Oh. It’s just you.” He says in a deadpan voice, instead, shoulders falling, tension draining out of him all at once. One of these days, he’ll have an aneurysm because of the people on this ship, he knows it. Putting his right hand over his heart, he lets out a heartfelt sigh.

With half-closed eyes, he looks back over his shoulder at the mosshead that’s been placed against his back. Their swordsman’s position doesn’t seem comfortable to him, but then again, the man’s well known to sleep in the weirdest positions.

“Don’t startle me like that.” he admonishes half-heartedly, already knowing that the message would go over his crewmate’s head. A memory like a sieve, that one, when it comes to accommodating other people’s preferences sometimes.

The eyeroll can be heard, when Zoro simply answers, “Then don’t be startled this easily. I wasn’t even trying.”

“Translation: I don’t care. Deal.” Usopp murmurs sarcastically to himself under his breath.

The “Hn?” that follows that is answered with Usopp interpreting that correctly as a threat and responding by waving a hand in front of his face, asking “Ah! Did you hear something? I heard nothing! The wind! That was the wind! Ahahahaaaa…”

The silence grows companionable, after that, the weight against his back a comfortable and familiar one, while he goes back to musing on his inadequacies and past failures, until-

“Stop that.” comes from a half-muffled voice at his back.

“Hmm?” he unearths from his contemplations gradually, forcefully dragging his brain away from the downwards spiral his thoughts have turned into.

“Stop it, whatever you’re doing. I can hear you poking fun at yourself from here.” After hearing that admonishment, Usopp is simply confused at first.

“Eh? But I’m not?” he responds, silently asking Zoro to clarify and yet dreading it at the same time, his shoulders tensing up slightly, as well.

“Yes, you are. Poking fun at yourself, at your weaknesses, your mistakes. Don’t do that. You won’t grow, from that.”

That. Zoro. Zoro believes he can grow, still? As… as a person – or just as a fighter?

Laughing slightly derisively at his own misadventures so far, Usopp chuckles as he asks, “But… that’s not my thing.” Striking a pose and swiftly ignoring the “Hey!” when his back moves from the previous support position to one a hand to the front, he proclaims, “After all, I’m the brave warrior of the sea, Usopp-sama!”

The self-satisfied “Exactly.” is as unexpected as is their chef’s sudden appearance to his right. Usopp freezes and dumbly blinks at the blond man for a moment.

An eyeroll accompanies their chef’s next words. Funny, he usually doesn’t sugar-coat his words when he’s with them – but this time, he does preface them with a casually strewn-in insult to Usopp, “Brave men have to eat. Here, a snack. Oi, Mosshead! The second one’s for you.” Without any more dramatics, he deposits the plate next to the two.

Sanji lights himself a cigarette, as Usopp grabs one of the sandwiches he’s been presented with, the tablet well within reach for the swordsman at his back who’s grumbled something impolite back at the cook.

It apparently being one of the sole times that the two do not go at each other’s throats the minute they see one another, Usopp takes the brief respite for the break it is and munches his sandwich.

Mid-bite, his courage flares up, and a “How-“ bursts out of his traitorous mouth before he can stop himself. Swallowing back the next words, he’s uncomfortably aware of everyone’s attention focusing on him now.

Great hole he’s dug himself, there. Good going, Usopp-sama.

But these two – they’re his nakama. He needn’t fear them, nor does he need courage to talk to them. Does he?

Chest tightening, he manages to pose a question through clenched teeth, “How do you determine a person’s bravery? How do you measure that?” He shadows his eyes with his cap, self-conscious and not willing to brave their stares that he can already feel boring into his soul – despite the swordsman ostensibly still facing away from him, if the weight of the head against his back is to be believed.

Sanji turns his head to stare out over the railing out at the sea beyond. Smoke leisurely floats away from him, the air calm and the sun still shining, albeit some clouds are fighting for its attention above. Usopp can see their shadows move across the deck.

The long-nose knows they’re giving his question the proper attention and thought it requires.

“Bravery, eh?” Sanji asks, going on to say, “That’s something _you_ would know best how to answer, wouldn’t you? ‘Brave Warrior of the Sea’.” The title’s spoken without sarcasm, a mere observation. Diplomatically solved, that one. Usopp’s no farther than he was before.

“Bravery’s different for different people.” Zoro adds, successful in flummoxing the sharpshooter.

Drawing down his brows, a crease forms between his eyes. And while the resident liar is puzzling his way through that one, Zoro reaches for the second sandwich on the plate.

Finding it less than satisfactory, he holds up the bread with two fingers and critically eyes it – Sanji throws him a suspicious glance at that already – before demanding if the cook can in fact make food that is “not as soggy as a wet cat for once?”

The fight starts raging around him and Usopp only just has time to dodge when a foot moves over his head to get at the “ignorant fool” behind him. Not wanting to stand in-between the increasingly incensed chef and his victim – or their kicks and weapons – he quickly takes the plate and makes for the door of the kitchen.

No way is he getting between those two, 'Brave Warrior of the Sea', or not.

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoyed it? I'd love to hear your opinion in a comment, if you're in the mood to? :D
> 
> Thank you very much for reading~!


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